82-year-old Mississippi bluesman brings Hingham crowd to its feet

Monday

Mar 31, 2014 at 2:14 AMMar 31, 2014 at 2:20 AM

An undiscovered talent for most of his life, Leo Welch on Sunday filled Hingham Congregational Church with his music, energy and soul after spending the weekend playing in the Knights Music Festival in Worcester.

Jessica Trufant The Patriot Ledger @JTrufant_Ledger

HINGHAM -- Leo “Bud” Welch left his native Mississippi by air for the first time in his life in January, just weeks after releasing his debut blues album at the ripe age of 81. With his performing schedule booked through the fall, Welch, now 82, will soon travel the world for shows as far away as Austria, Switzerland and Canada. He’s making up for lost time and inspiring fans along the way. Welch, an unknown talent for most of his life, filled the Hingham Congregational Church with his music, energy and soul on Sunday, after spending the weekend playing in the Knights Music Festival in Worcester.

“Old man’s getting tired, but I won’t let that stop me,” Welch told the people in the audience, who nodded, clapped and tapped their toes to his deep voice and hot pink guitar. “Let’s keep it rocking!”

The pit stop in Hingham was organized by parishioner Susan Sardina, who reached out to Welch’s Mississippi-based record label, Big Legal Mess, in January after she and her husband heard his story on National Public Radio.

“He was a logger his whole life, so he struggled. He’s made more money in the past 12 months than he made in his whole life,” Sardina, of Cohasset, said before the concert. “It’s not only his music that’s amazing, but his story of following his dream and not giving up on it.”

Welch began garnering attention from established musicians soon after he first picked up a guitar in 1945. The “king of blues,” B.B. King, eventually offered Welch an audition, but Welch couldn’t afford the trip to Memphis and passed it up.

Welch supported his family by carrying a chain saw up the hills and into the hollows of North Mississippi for 35 years. He played small gigs on the side when he could.

Welch had all but given up on blues – having retreated to playing mostly church gospel – until this time last year, when his now-manager Vencie Varnado asked him to play at his birthday party.

“It took me two years to convince him to play for me,” said Varnado, a retired Army recruiter and lifelong friend of Welch. “The first time I heard him play, I recorded it and showed it to the record label. … And the ball has been rolling ever since.”

Things took off for Welch after he released his first album, “Saboulga Voices,” in January, and he has performances booked through the rest of the year.

“He’s a great talent, but it was a matter of getting him in front of the right audience,” Varnado said. “Some people spend their whole lives in front of the wrong audience.”

Though hard of hearing from years of working with a chain saw, Welch shows few signs of old age – something that much of the Hingham audience was impressed by.

“I hope I have that much energy at 82,” Inge Downing of Scituate said. “It’s awesome.”

Dan Kelleher of Weymouth said it was good to see someone of Welch’s age still motivated to follow his dream.

“We need to have more of him and less of Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus,” he said.

Sunday’s concert was a benefit show. All of the proceeds will go to two Mississippi charities of Welch’s choosing: the Excel Community Center in Calhoun and the Mount Harmony Baptist Church.